You Gave Me A Family
by AmeliaDarkholme
Summary: "Hey, Nebs? Look after my family for me, will you? Promise me." "I promise." Nebula knew she wasn't good. But despite the horrible creature she'd become, Nebula knew the importance of promises.
1. Keeping A Promise

**NOTES:** This is part of will chronicle Nebula's part in the lives of the Ironkids. Each chapter will be around 2000-6000 words. The chapters won't be in order, and I don't know how often the updates will be. But I promise, I'll write as often as I can

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything you find familiar.

* * *

Nebula knew she wasn't good.

Hell, up until recently, she was most definitely a villain. _A monster._

However, despite the horrible creature she'd become, Nebula knew the importance of promises.

"You'll come visit us, won't you, Nebula?" Pepper had asked her before the Luphomoid could get on Quill's ship with the rest of the Guardians.

Pepper, who reminded Nebula _so much _of her beloved sister in the past five years they knew each other. Pepper, who trusted Nebula enough around her precious daughter, even though she knew of her past. Pepper, who Nebula tried so hard to distance herself from, in hopes that by doing so, she wasn't insulting Gamora's memory.

"I…" Nebula started, swallowing heavily as her eyes flew toward the sight of the little girl who was carried in the arms of a tall young man, both of them watching that Spiderling closely as the young superhero tried to convince his aunt for the umpteenth time that he was alright.

"Nebula?" Pepper spoke again, turning Nebula's attention back to her. "Promise me you'll visit us, alright? You know you're always welcome here. So, _please. _Come and visit us."

Nebula knew all about promises. She knew how important they were.

And she _never _broke her promises.

"I will," Nebula said softly. "I promise."

* * *

_"Hey, Nebster? Can I ask you for a favour?"_

_"After all you've done for me, I suppose I have no choice."_

_"Hah! I knew I found you likeable for a reason. Because it sure as hell not because of your temper."_

_"Stark, focus."_

_"Ah, right… Well, do you think you have some time to spare to look after my family? Make sure they're safe. Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, and w-when they're back, Peter and Harley too."_

_"Are you implying what I think you are?"_

_"Nebula, I'm serious. Look after my family for me, will you?"_

_"Do it yourself, Stark. You protect your own."_

_"Naivety doesn't become you, my dear. We both know what will happen the moment we get those Stones back."_

_"Yes, and what will happen is you having your family back while I get my sister."_

_"Nebula, _please. _Promise me."_

_A beat, then, "Very well. I promise."_

* * *

Nebula was going to kill someone.

Cross that. She was going to kill _Peter Quill_.

And Thor. And Drax.

And Rocket, that furry menace.

She'd spare Mantis though, and that was only if she'd stop giggling.

"Aww, look how the murderous _murderess _has gone all soft," Quill cooed, his ugly face twisted into another one of his obnoxious smirk.

_Goodness, sister, _Nebula wondered silently as she clenched her jaw. _What exactly did you see from this stupid idiot?_

Nebula considered how long it would take to kill these idiots and hide their stinking corpses. In the end, she had to accept that it would take too long. She was running late already – _six months too late._ She could always kill them another day anyway.

"Just drop me off at Stark's home," Nebula drawled out, already standing by the hatch of the ship's exit, ready to jump out even if the plane's still in the air. "And come pick me up again in two weeks."

"You sure two weeks will be enough? 'Cause, really, if you want to get all that tooth-rotting fluff out, we can always make it into two months – _OW!"_ Quill yelped, not unlike a child as he rubbed his nose gruffly, where the silver triangle Nebula had flicked in his way had hit him.

_I did it, Stark! _Nebula thought childishly as she fought back a small grin. _I flipped the triangle and hit a target._

"Next time, it'll be my knife flying towards your throat, Quill," Nebula said flatly. With a pout on his face, Quill opened the hatch and stomped away, a chuckling Thor following behind him. Nebula had no doubt that the newly recovered God of Thunder had gone to further humiliate Quill.

"See you in two weeks, Nebula!" Mantis bade her goodbye before Nebula jumped off the ship, landing rather smoothly on the freshly mowed lawn, despite the rather worrying distance between where she'd jumped from to where she'd landed on.

Nebula watched Quill's ship flew away, and only took her eyes off it once she saw it left the atmosphere. Then she turned to look around, her mechanic-eyes easily scanned the perimeter for possible hostiles even in the middle of the night with minimum lighting. When she was satisfied with the lack of threats, she slowly made her way toward the cabin where Pepper and her daughter lived. The same cabin that had harboured her during the rare times she'd sneaked out of the Avengers compound, when the good Captain was getting on her nerves with his self-righteousness. Nebula rarely felt fondness toward anyone or anything, not even for her sister. But she couldn't help herself but to recall _fondly _the memories of Tony Stark making fun of Steve Rogers.

She took her sweet time to reach the porch, long enough she suspected for the AI inside the house to alert its occupants of her arrival. Her assumption was proven to be correct when the door was opened before she could knock on it, revealing a beaming Morgan once again in the arms of that tall young man Nebula had seen at Stark's funeral. The little girl's happiness was blinding, and when she jumped off the man's arms to hug her tiny arms around Nebula's legs, the Luphomoid nearly failed in reigning the small smile that Morgan always seemed able to cause.

"_Nebby!_" Morgan exclaimed. "Nebby, you came! I told Harley and Peter that you would, but they _didn't _believe me! And now you're here! _You've come home!"_

"Alright, Morgy, I'll admit I was wrong," the young man laughed, raising his hands in mock-defeat. "I promise I won't doubt you ever again, princess."

"You better not!" Morgan said. She let go of Nebula's legs but reached up to grab on her mechanic-hand as she turned her attention on the approaching Spiderling. "You too, Peter! See? I was right! Nebby _did _come home at last! Like she promised!"

The Spiderling, whose real name turned out to be Peter, also let out a chuckle as he admitted his mistake. He then proceeded to tell everyone in the room that dinner was ready and that Pepper was expecting them in the dining room. Nebula saw that the tall young man, whom Morgan had called as Harley, said something to the Spiderling, but at that point, Nebula had stopped listening. She absent-mindedly allowed Morgan to drag her into the dining room, where she was directed to sit between Morgan and the empty chair that was supposed to be Pepper's. As they all waited for Pepper to come with dinner, Nebula's mind kept on repeating what Morgan had said.

_You've come home!_

Home.

Nebula never had a home. She never had a family. The Guardians and their wacky ship were the closest she could get to a home and a family.

But here, with Tony Stark's little family, she finally had both.

* * *

Nebula had been lying on her bed for awhile when she heard the tiny patters of feet she recognised as Morgan's coming to her room. She'd pulled herself to sit on her bed when the girl opened the door, her small figure bundled up in her blanket as she poked her head into Nebula's room. In an eerie reminiscence of her late father, the girl's eyes zeroed in on Nebula almost instantly, and a small smile appeared on her small face as she waddled toward Nebula. The Luphomoid watched silently when the girl climbed onto her bed, only quirking an eyebrow at the girl when she settled on the spot beside where Nebula had just lain moments prior.

"What are you doing?" Nebula asked, even as she lowered herself to lie beside the girl.

"I couldn't sleep," Morgan replied easily, her eyes already starting to flutter close. "And my brothers always told me to never disturb Mum when she sleeps."

"Your brothers?" Nebula asked, frowning. As far as she knew, Stark had no other child other than the little girl currently lying beside her.

"Harley and Peter," Morgan said matter-of-factly, oblivious to the confusion and surprise on Nebula's face at her claim. In a way that only a five year old spawn of Tony Stark could ever do, Morgan kept on talking. "Usually, I came to them. But I heard Peter had a nightmare, and Harley was busy comforting him. So, I came here. To see you."

"_Me_?" the former assassin said incredulously. "Why did you come to see me?"

Morgan let out a yawn before she answered. "Because, while Harley and Peter are my brothers, Daddy told me you're my sister. He told me you'd look after me."

For the second time that night, Nebula was rendered speechless in her shock. She barely even realised that Morgan had burrowed herself against Nebula's chest, falling asleep almost instantly. She stared at the girl in her arms, spending who knew how long marvelling how _small _she was, and how Nebula was ready to kill _anyone_ who would ever dare to harm one precious strand of Morgan's hair. The clock above her head told her that it was four hours past midnight when she heard her door was opened. Looking up toward the intruders, she found Morgan's self-proclaimed _brothers _standing by the door, looking both wary and relieved to find the girl there.

"I'm sorry if she's interrupted your sleep," the one named Peter, the Spiderling, said apologetically. "She usually came to us when she couldn't sleep. But I…"

Peter trailed off, blushing slightly. Deciding to be merciful for the first time ever, Nebula shrugged, careful not to jolt Morgan into waking up. "It's fine. I don't really need sleep actually."

"Well, thank you, I suppose," Peter said, a ghost of a smile on his face.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence then, none of them knew what to say or to do without the little girl they'd all cared for as a buffer for their interaction. But, much to Nebula's surprise, it was actually the one named Harley who broke the silence. Through out the dinner, she was under the impression that Harley was like a younger and _taller _version of Stark, and if she hadn't known any better, she'd actually think that Harley was Stark's son for real. Therefore, she wasn't expecting Harley to be the one to offer an olive branch, so to speak. It seemed like something Peter would do, what with him being the gentler one of the two.

"I can fix that arm for you," Harley said, nodding toward Nebula's mechanic arm. It was only then Nebula realised, for the first time in _six months, _that her arm was ruined.

"Can you really?" Nebula asked, even though she remembered from Stark's stories that Harley was the one who was a tinker like himself.

_A mechanic, _Stark had said with a sad yet proud smile on his face, his eyes a little dazed.

At her question, Harley let out a cocky snort that was _so _Stark-like as he took a step forward, his eyes eyeing Nebula's arm that had wrapped itself around Morgan without the Luphomoid ever really realising it. "Lady, I have at least _two thousand _patented creations that I've built since I was only twelve. All of them sold under the SI brand, and at least a half of them are best seller. Not only I can fix your arm, I think I can build you a _new_ one."

"You better say yes now before he's launched into a lengthy explanations about how _great _he is," Peter quipped with a grin. "And he's got a point, I guess. Last week, we fixed Pepper's broken Audi in only _a day_ when it would have taken others at least two weeks. He considers himself the _best _mechanic ever to live."

It was obviously the wrong thing to say, because Peter instantly paled at the same time Harley clenched his jaw. The little mistake sobered everyone up, and they fell under another round of uncomfortable silence before Nebula decided to have mercy one more time.

"Alright," Nebula agreed. "You're allowed to build me a new arm."

Both Harley and Peter gave her an identical beaming smile that reminded her of Morgan, even though she knew that the three of them weren't related by blood. "Great!" Harley said. "Meet me in the garage at around ten then. And I promise, I'll have it done in before you leave."

"Five bucks if you can finish it in a week," Peter challenged, after he flashed her a smile that bade her farewell.

"You're on, Parker," Harleye replied, also giving Nebula the same smile as he led his brother out of Nebula's room. But before they could leave, she stopped them.

"Hold on," she said, stopping them from leaving.

"Yes?" Peter asked kindly, his smile made him looked younger than he already was at only sixteen.

"Why do you do this?" Nebula asked. "Why do you…help me?"

_Why are you two so nice to me?_

_Why is _everyone _so nice to me?_

"Isn't it obvious?" Harley said as he shrugged nonchalantly. "You're _family, _Nebula. And us Starks stick together."

That night, Nebula made an oath. She swore that no matter what happened, she would take care of Tony Stark's family.

She might be raised as a monster by Thanos. But she was also raised to honour her promises. Fortunately for Tony Stark, Nebula would never break her promise anyway.

She was going to protect _her_ new family until her dying breath.


	2. Turn the Ship Around

**NOTES: **This story will focus mostly on Nebula and her relationships with the other Iron Kids. So most of the chapters will be in her POV. But of course, there will be some in other characters' POV. Also, I haven't really thought about the pairings. You guys are welcome to suggest about it :)

* * *

"This might a hurt a bit."

"My mechanic arm can't feel pain.

"Huh. That's great, I guess."

"Why is it a good thing?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you?"

"Oh… Well, I have a high pain-tolerance. I'm used to torture."

"We need to work with your conversational skills, sister."

"Why do I – "

"Later. For now, hold still for me. I don't want to make mistakes."

Nebula sat ramrod straight instantly, her programming still failed to translate Harley's flippancy as something other than a command. If Harley noticed it, he did a great job ignoring her and proceeded on attaching her new arm, working quietly in concentration while Nebula watched. True to his words, it took him only a week to make her new arm. After that first morning when he inspected her arm, he began to work on it relentlessly. He rarely got out of his garage unless Pepper came to drag him to eat. Initially, Nebula felt rather guilty that Harley was spending so much time doing something _for her. _She was worried that Peter and Morgan would hate her for stealing Harley from them. After all, he was _their _brother first. But both Peter and Morgan proved they really were so much better than she could ever be. With Harley preoccupied, they turned to her as if expecting her to give them suggestions on how they should spend their time together.

Nebula was hesitant at first, not knowing what kind of activities would be suitable for them, especially for Morgan. For Peter, and maybe Harley, it was easier. She could always show them some fighting moves, train them to be the next protector of the world. Sure, she would not let Morgan grow up without some kind of proper training on self-defence. But she didn't think Pepper would appreciate Nebula teaching her baby to poke someone's eyes out – the most effective skill to learn for a little kid, in Nebula's opinion. In the end, Nebula suggested they played the triangle-flip game. Morgan, who was familiar with the game because she and Tony and Nebula used to play it from time to time, agreed to it immediately. She spoke animatedly when she explained to Peter how to play the game, as she rummaged through her things for her triangles.

Peter quickly got the hang of it, although with his powers, it wasn't exactly surprising that he would. Both him and Nebula generously let Morgan won, which made the girl laughed in genuine glee every time she 'defeated' them. Nebula noticed though, the girl was getting better and better every single time she played. But before the Luphomoid could make further observation, Morgan declared that she was tired and that she wanted to watch Nebula played against Peter. It started out as a rather friendly game. However, Nebula was Nebula, and her competitive nature wouldn't allow her to lose. She was rather surprised to find Peter stepping up his game and tried his best to give Nebula a decent competition. In the end, she won a total of fifteen times to Peter's fourteen. She would never admit it, but she was rather disappointed when Pepper came to get them all to eat. But then Peter offered to teach her how to play other human games, and Nebula agreed to it almost immediately.

Again though. Not that she would admit it out loud.

But she really did enjoy that game of basketball Peter showed her.

She was _so _going to teach the Guardians how to play it, just so she could beat Quill at it.

"And we're done," Harley announced, snapping Nebula out of her reverie. There was a proud smile on the blond's face as he nodded his head at Nebula's new arm, wordlessly telling her to test it out.

Nebula clenched and unclenched her hand a few times before she moved to stretching out her arm. There was a sense of giddiness when she felt how _different _her new arm was. Her old arm, the one that Thanos gave her, was very uncomfortable. It was like a heavy weight hanging by her shoulder, and even after all those years she had it, the arm didn't move as easily as she would have liked it. Nebula had her suspicions that Thanos intentionally had it made poorly to make her suffer. It was probably true anyway, Thanos being the sadistic bastard he was. Nebula then took her knife from her boot and began to flick it around, her hand moving faster than she was used to. Not only it moved more easily and faster than her old arm, Harley had made her new arm the same colour as her real arm. If she wasn't looking at it closely, she could almost believe it was her old, _old _arm – way before Thanos had cut her up into pieces and had her rebuilt. Nebula had no idea how long she'd spent testing out her arm, until she caught the sight of a grinning Harley from the corner of her eye.

"I take it you like the arm then," Harley said, a hint of Stark's brand of cockiness in his voice. He had turned around to tidy up all the tools that littered his desk.

"It's…adequate," Nebula said, an unfamiliar feeling of mischief filled her chest as she watched Harley whipped around, eyes wide in offense.

"Adequate? _Adequate?_ How dare – " Harley trailed off, narrowing his blue eyes at Nebula, who had to fight hard the urge to lift the corner of her lips. The blond seemed to understand what just happened, and let out a soft chuckle. "Well played, Nebs. Well played. You got me."

Nebula shrugged, trying all her might to keep a straight face. "It's really good, Harley. Much better than my old arm. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I made you a promise, remember?" the blond replied, grinning. "I told you, we're family now."

Her heart nearly burst with the warmth she felt, and for the first time ever, Nebula _smiled._

"Yes, you're right," the Luphomoid said softly, feeling her smile widened when she saw that a genuine smile, not a grin or a smirk, had taken over Harley's feature. "We _are _a family."

* * *

Nebula hated it whenever Quill would talk nonstop for almost three hours straight. Sometimes, when she was in a horrible mood, she would literally shut him up with her hand, holding Quill's jaw together in a threatening manner to make sure he got the message into his thick skull. It was something she and Gamora had in common. Her sister hated mindless chatters too, which made her wondering more often than not _how _in the world Gamora had fallen for the idiot. But that was Gamora. She always was very soft deep down, even after all those years growing up with Thanos. Nebula used to envy her sister for that, among all the other things that had led to their rivalry. She envied how after everything, Gamora _still _managed to keep her heart in a good place.

But that was six years ago.

Nebula had grown a lot since then, and she'd like to think that she'd changed for the better.

She really believed she did.

If not, she doubted she'd be able to stand Peter talking her ear off through out dinner.

"…then I was like, '_the _Harley Keener? The same person who's practically a legend among all the SI interns?' He's very popoular among us interns, you see. Because, he's the very first intern that works closely with Tony."

"Get to the point, Parker, _jeez_!_"_

"Okay, okay! Anyway, do you know what this _jerk _said to me? He said, and I quote, 'the one and only, darling.' _Darling._ That's what he said. Complete with the Southern-drawl that made at least, three other female interns around us _swooned._"

Although Nebula could hardly understand what Peter was talking about, she still failed in reigning in her smile when everyone laughed. Morgan's laughter was especially infectious, even if Nebula knew that Morgan was just as clueless as she was. She ate her dinner quietly as she watched Peter continued on his story about the first time he met Harley, with the blond providing commentaries here and there. As a Luphomoid who was more machine than a living being, Nebula actually didn't really need to eat so often. But she really enjoyed dinner time with her family, because it was the only time that all of them would gather without disturbance, spending some quality time together. Twice they were joined by Rhodes and Happy, the former coming with 'real, Italian pasta' from his latest mission while the latter brought some weird drink called Butterbeer that all the kids were very excited about. Nebula was expecting Pepper to chide Happy for giving Morgan an alcoholic drink. But it turned out the drink was not alcoholic at all. It tasted really weird for Nebula, but she quite liked it.

She learned a lot about her new family during these dinners, a lot more than what she knew about the Guardians, whom she'd known far longer. She'd known how Pepper used to be Tony's personal assisstant before she became CEO of SI. She'd also known how Rhodes was Tony's best and oldest friend, and how Happy started out as Tony's personal chauffer before becoming his best friend too. But the boys though, even though Tony spoke highly of them in the five years they were Snapped, she only knew the most basic things that Tony told her about them – like how Peter was raised by his uncle and aunt because his parents died when he was a kid, and how Harley's father was an irresponsible bastard who walked out on his family when Harley was around Morgan's age. In the two weeks she stayed with her new family, she made an effort to get to know more about Peter and Harley, and when both boys asked about her in return, it took Nebula only ten seconds of hesitation before she answered them. It was quite the progress, and her heart always bloomed in an unfamiliar sense of happines whenever she saw the pride in Pepper's eyes.

Nebula found out that Peter and Harley had actually known each other before the whole thing with Thanos. Harley, who had known Tony since he was only eleven, was one of the first 'interns' that Tony hired. The billionaire knew how tight money was for Harley and his family, but he also knew that if Tony just straight up offered him money, Harley would refuse. So, in a gesture that was so typical of Tony Stark, Tony told Harley that if he agreed to work for SI once he graduated from school, he'd pay for all of Harley's education fee. Nebula had no idea about the system for Earth's education, but she could imagine that Tony had paid for _everything_. Harley agreed, of course. But Harley being Harley, had started on inventing stuffs that he thought would benefit the lives of many people. He was twelve when he showed his first invention to Tony, and it was only several months later when Tony had them mass-produced and then sold world-wide.

Ever since then, Tony had Harley invented many things and then sold them under the SI brand. That was around the same time Tony began to hire more interns, all of them _much _older than Harley, to form a team that worked _for_ the blond genius. Much to Harley's utmost surprise and annoyance, Tony gave _ninety _percent of the earnings to Harley, who tried to refuse but ended up unsuccesful. By the time Harley was fourteen, he'd become one of the richest teenagers in America, though he tried to keep a low-profile about it because he didn't want too much attention on his family. According to Peter, Harley finished 'high school' – a level in Earth's education that was considered as the absolute _worst_ – when he was only fifteen, three years sooner than what was normal. It was a couple years later when Peter met Harley, when Tony brought him in to help with the whole Sokovia Accords thing under the pretense of hiring another intern. However, because Peter wasn't exactly an intern the way Harley's team was, they never really interracted with one another.

Then the Decimation happened, and when they met again five years later, everything had changed.

"Hey, Peter?" Pepper said, interrupting the brunet in the middle of his story about something funny his best friend Ned Leeds just told him.

"Yes, Pepper?" came the reply. Nebula noted that apparently, it took six months for Peter to stop calling Pepper as 'Miss Potts'.

"May just called me. She asked when were you coming home."

The grin on Peter's face dropped as he stole a glance at Harley, who suddenly found his mashed potatoes to be incredibly interesting. It was quite sometime when Peter finally answered Pepper, speaking carefully to avoid saying the wrong thing. "I'll leave two days after Nebula leaves. But I won't go back to Queens immediately."

Pepper raised an eyebrow in an interrogating manner, and for a split second, Nebula almost saw Gamora. "Oh? Where are you going then? Do you need Happy to take you somewhere?"

Peter shook his head as he offered a polite smile, something that he hadn't done since the last time Nebula saw him. "Ah, no. We're going to Rose Hill, so I guess Harley can help us get there ourselves."

If possible, Pepper's eyebrow rose higher. "_Rose Hill_? Why do you two want to go to all the way to Tennessee so suddenly? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"It's my sister," Harley answered before Peter could, finally making a sound after going all mute since Pepper first spoke to Peter. "Apparently there are some stuffs of our mother that she still has but wants to get rid off. She asked me to come look at them, just in case I want to keep anything."

"Ah, I see," Pepper said, a look of grim understanding on her face. "But, why does Peter – "

"I come for moral support," Peter explained firmly, flashing Harley a supportive look that the blond replied with a grateful smile.

Pepper nodded, sharing a look with Nebula that was both sad and proud. It was understandable. One of the first things Nebula learned about Harley, other than his brilliant achievements, was his relationship with his sister, Eleanor. When Harley got Snapped with half of the universe, little Eleanor who was only thirteen was left alone with their depressed mother, who had a horrible habit of drinking every alcoholic substance she could get her hands on. One day, Mrs Keener had one too many drinks just before she was supposed to come to Eleanor's middle school graduation, and she was much too drunk to be able avoid the truck that was headed toward her car. She died on impact, leaving Eleanor an orphan all alone with her big brother's unlimited money as the only help she could have. Tony, who had become her emergency contact since Harley got Snapped, immediately arranged for her to be taken care of by the most decent family he could find. But it wasn't as simple as that. Even with her loving adoptive family raising her, and Tony's reassurance that Eleanor would always have access to Harley's money even with her brother gone, it didn't change the fact that she'd lost _everyone._

When Harley arrived at the porch of her adoptive parents' house just hours after he returned, still wearing the Stark labcoat he was wearing when he disappeared in the middle of his work, Eleanor screamed at him for two hours straight before she cried her eyes out, face pressed against his chest.

Five years had passed since Harley was Snapped. She was thirteen when he last saw her. As he held her tightly in his arms, burying his face in her hair, Harley realised that she was exactly the same age as he was. _Eighteen._ Oh, Harley tried to ignore it. He tried to close his eyes toward all the changes around him. He tried to forget that his mother had died not long after the Decimation because his disappearance had left her broken. But it wasn't enough. Five years was a long time for Eleanor to grow up and get used to a life where Harley didn't exist. At least, that was what Harley believed whenever he came to visit Eleanor and the girl refused to see him. In the end, Harley agreed to Eleanor's request that he better not visit her too often. It was why Harley had become a permanent resident in the cabin. This happened just a month before Nebula came, so she had no idea what really happened. But judging from the vicious scowl on Peter's face as he told the story to Nebula, Peter who always seemed to be incapable of hatred, she could tell that Eleanor's request broke Harley's heart. For some reason, the thought that Harley was going to visit that _horrible _child, even with Peter by his side, was making Nebula restless. True, she understood that loneliness could push someone into doing something so horrible. But still. Nebula felt protective of the blond, worried that Eleanor would destroy whatever left of Harley's heart.

Because, like Tony, underneath all that cocky bravado, Harley was even more vulnerable than Peter.

Before Nebula could fully comprehend what she was about to do, she'd opened her mouth and said, "I can come with you, if you want."

"Me too!" Morgan yelled, nodding her head in a conviction that made her seemed older than her actual age. "I want to tell Smelly-Ellie off for making you sad, Harley."

"Morgan, no," Pepper chastised her daughter, although there was a small smile on her face. "Firstly, you don't call people that. That's not very nice."

"But she's not nice, Mummy!" Morgan protested, rolling her eyes the way Tony ofted did. "She made Harley sad. No one is allowed to make _my_ brother sad. Not even her."

"Secondly," Pepper continued, as if Morgan hadn't interrupted her. "If you go with Harley and Peter, then who's going to accompany me?"

Morgan fell silent, her forehead scrunching up as she considered her mother's words. Awhile later, she sighed dramatically as she nodded her head. "Fine. I'll stay here with you, Mum. But _Nebby _goes so she can tell Smelly-Ellie off."

"I'll be fine, princess," Harley chuckled, reaching toward Morgan to ruffle her hair affectionately. "Thank you for offering to come with me, but Peter's more than enough. Both you and Nebula don't have to go, really."

"Are you sure?" Nebula asked. "I won't do anything to her, I promise. I'll be your…moral support."

"I'm sure," the blond said with a smile. "But thanks for offering, _sis._"

"Very well, _brother,_" the Luphomoid replied, earning a grin from Harley. If she noticed the way his eyes shone a little bit with tears, she pretended she didn't see it.

"Besides," Harley continued, his mood seemed much lighter than before. "I already have Spiderman with me. I think one hero is more than enough to keep me out of trouble."

"Don't worry, Keener. I'll make sure your ass is safe and sound until I get you back here," Peter quipped, which made everyone laughed again, effectively changing the mood for the better.

And this time, Nebula joined in the laughter.

* * *

"You promise to visit us again, right?"

"Yes, Morgan. I promise. And next time, it won't take six months."

"Three months, okay? You'll come when Peter comes for Christmas."

"I will. I promise I'll come exactly on the same day as Peter."

It was Nebula's last day. The Guardians were going to come any moment to take her away on another journey to find Gamora. Nebula had spent the last thirty minutes trying to convince Morgan to let go of her deceptively strong hold from around her neck. For someone so small and seemingly vulnerable, Morgan was quite strong for a mortal her age. It took Harley promising her a brand new potato gun for the girl to finally let go of Nebula. Even then, she kept on making sure that Nebula remembered to come as soon as possible. By the time Quill's ship was lowering itself onto the ground, Morgan was already sitting on Harley's shoulders, burying her face grumpily into his hair even as she kept watching the ship in wary. When the ship landed, the hatch was opened to reveal a grinning Mantis, Nebula turned her attention one last time to her little family.

"I guess I'll be going now," she said softly. She hesitantly opened her arms for the unfamiliar gesture of hugging. It still surprised her when Pepper stepped forward and hugged her, even if she liked it.

"Take care, will you?" Pepper said, her kind smile was accompanied by a bit of tears. "Feel free to visit us anytime. You're always welcome here."

"Thank you. I promise I'll come visit soon," Nebula said before she turned to Peter, who hugged her enthusiastically the way a child would.

"See you in December, sis," Peter said with a beaming smile. "I'll meet you here at around noon? How does that sound?"

"That sounds good," Nebula agreed. Lowering her voice, she said, "Take care of _our _brother, won't you? I'm…worried about him."

If Nebula's words surprised him, Peter did a great job at hiding it. "Sure. I'll protect him with my life."

"But don't get into trouble yourself, Spiderboy," Nebula chided, rolling her eyes even as she fought the grin that slowly had become familiar to her.

"My turn now," Harley said, moving carefully to hug Nebula, what with the precious cargo sitting rather precariously on his shoulder. "Be safe, will you, sis? Don't get your hand destroyed again."

"I'll stay out of trouble if you promise me the same thing," the Luphomoid said, earning a chuckle from the blond.

"Fine. I promise I'll behave while Peter's around."

_"Hey!" _Peter exclaimed mockingly, to which Harley replied rather immaturely as he stuck his tongue, causing Morgan to giggle.

"Good luck with your sister," Nebula said seriously, and she felt rather guilty at the way Harley's grin dimmed a bit, even as he nodded his head solemnly.

"Thank you. You as well." It was Nebula's turn to feel a bit gloom, remembering how she still had to find Gamora. But she pushed the thought away as she focused on Morgan.

"See you later, Morgan. I'll be counting the days till we meet again," she told the girl, reaching up to ruffle those brown locks.

"Bye-bye, Nebby," Morgan said somberly, blinking her eyes furiously in an effort to stop herself from crying, one of her short arms was waving Nebula goodbye.

Waving her own hand to bid her family goodbye, Nebula then made her way onto the ship. She ignored Mantis when she greeted her with her usual dose of childish exuberance, walking right passed her wordlessly toward her usual seat by the window. She didn't even acknowledge Rocket's comment about her new arm. As the ship took off the ground, Nebula watched from the window how her little family kept on waving their hands at her departure, and she felt her heart ached as their figures got smaller and smaller, until she could no longer see them. She vaguely registered Quill saying something dumb, obviously in an effort to cheer her up. But she really wasn't in the mood to insult his serious lack of intelligence. The moment they'd left Earth's atmosphere, Nebula couldn't take it anymore and leave the cockpit, heading toward the cabin she'd long claimed as her own. She threw herself on the corner of the cabin, and took out the small piece of plastic-like material from the front of pocket of her jacket.

Peter called it a Polaroid picture, taken the day after Harley made her new arm. It was of herself, Morgan, Peter, Harley, and Pepper. They were standing in front of the cabin, and the camera was set to take the picture automatically. Nebula originally refused to accept the picture when Harley gave it to her. But now, as she sat alone in her cabin with the picture in her hand, she was really grateful that the stubborn blond had insisted that she took it. She had no idea how long she spent sitting there staring at the picture, but suddenly her solitude was disturbed when Thor, who had fully recovered to his godly glory, took a seat beside her. It was a very small space, and both of them were rather too big to comfortably fit into the small space. For some reason though, Nebula didn't find it as annoying as she normally would. She was never really close with Thor in the six months they travelled together. So, it came as a surprise that she didn't really mind his presence at that moment.

"You know," the God of Thunder began, his eyes set on the picture in Nebula's hand. "I'd give _anything _to find a family the way you do. I mean, I do love my people. They were the reason why I didn't just kill myself that day after I cut Thanos' head off. But no matter how I appreciated the company of Grunhilde, Korg and Miek in those bleak five years of my life, I never saw them as family. It feels too much like betraying the memories of my family. Of my brother, my mother, and my father. Even if I realised that I wasn't ever going to replace them."

"That's the thing, I suppose," Nebula said, surprising herself that she actually replied. "You already _had _a family. Meanwhile, even though I care about Gamora, I've never really had a family. I didn't even consider Gamora as my family until it was far too late. With Morgan, Peter, Harley, and Pepper? It's different. I _feel _different. I…I'd like to think I'm a better person when I'm with them."

"Then that should be enough, isn't it?" Thor prompted, an encouraging smile on his face. But Nebula, loath though she was to admit, didn't understand it.

"What do you mean?"

"That should be enough reason for you to stay, right? _With them._"

Nebula froze. Thor's words had shocked her, even though deep down she knew, that he was right. She had been trying to find a reason to stay with her little family. But a part of her, the coward and insecure _idiot _that feared she wasn't good enough for the tiniest bit of happiness, tried so hard to find a reason to stay _away _from her family instead. She hid behind the claims that she was going to find Gamora. But Nebula knew that even if she did find Gamora, it wouldn't be _her _Gamora. Just like Thor knew that if he was to find the Loki from the alternate timeline, it wouldn't be the Loki he knew from the past few years. With a startling realisation, Nebula knew that she'd long given up on the hope of finding her sister. And now, she had foolishly given up on her family to chase something that she knew was impossible. Determination filled her as she gathered herself to stand, her whole being buzzing in excitement at her decision.

"I'm going back," Nebula said firmly, and when she saw the genuine smile on Thor's face, she knew it mirrored her own smile.

"I know you are," Thor said as he too stood up. "Go get your things while I go talk to _Quail_ to turn the ship around. We need to get you back before little Miss Stark has gone to bed."

"Thor?" Nebula called. Thor had turned around and was already making his way to the cockpit to talk to Quill. At the call of his name, the God of Thunder stopped and turned around.

"Yes, Nebula?"

"Thank you."

Thor smiled and nodded his head, and continued on his way to the cockpit. Nebula then began to pack all of her things, all of her belonging that she'd left in the ship went to join her things that she hadn't unpacked yet. She could hear Quill's voice arguing loudly with Thor, who lazily started to threaten Quill that he'd set the ship on fire if Quill didn't turn the ship around. Nebula ignored them all though. There was only one thing she cared about at the moment, and it wasn't Quill or Thor.

It was her family.

Morgan, Peter, Harley and Pepper.

Nebula was coming _home_.


	3. Starks Protect Their Own (part 1)

**NOTES: **This chapter, unlike the previous ones, will it will be in multiple POV's. The same goes for the next chapter. As usual though, both chapters will begin with Nebula :) Happy reading!

* * *

The first time she noticed it, Nebula had only been staying with her family for a little over a month.

Being the oldest in their…'funky little quartet', as Pepper liked to put it, it was almost natural for Nebula to hover over her siblings protectively. With Morgan, it was obvious that Nebula would torture then kill anyone who so much as breathed too strongly in the little girl's face. It was with the boys that her own protectiveness came as a bit of a surprise to her.

She liked to think she wasn't as overbearing when it came to Harley. She knew that even though he was a Normal, unlike Peter and Nebula herself, Harley was more than capable to protect himself. She remembered the stories that Harley had to learn how to fend for himself from the bullying he suffered, just because he preferred to build things instead of playing the many sports that his school mates did. His smart-mouth certainly didn't help much, and when Harley casually mentioned how his bullies used to beat him up because of it, Nebula had to remind herself a couple times that it was all in the past. She was grateful to know that Tony had taken the time to put Harley into self-defence classes, because obviously, it was successful in keeping the bullies away from the blond. She knew for a fact how well Harley could defend himself. She'd seen it, and tested it herself, in the first week of her official stay with her family at the cabin. She told her brothers to have a bit of a friendly match, although she speficially forbade Peter from using his powers. It didn't take Harley long to knock Peter off his feet. Nebula then decided that Harley hardly needed her. Sure, she'd always keep an eye on the mouthy blond. But she knew Harley would be all right with or without her help.

Peter though, he was entirely another matter. Despite being Spiderman, Nebula constantly worried about him. Yes, Peter could probably lift a truck and threw it across the forest that surrounded the cabin, all without breaking a sweat. Hell, she'd seen how the tiny brunet could go head to head against _Thanos _himself. However, unlike their brother whose thick skin was thicker than his head, Peter was a sensitive soul. He wore his heart on his sleeve, too trusting toward everything and everyone. It was the reason why people always treated the slight brunet carelessly, without putting his heart into consideration. Even then, even though people often hurt him through their irresponsible words, Peter would easily find it in himself to forgive them. Nebula knew for a fact that if it was Harley, the blond wouldn't be so forgiving _and _trusting. Sometimes, the Luphomoid wondered how Peter could still maintain that childlike purity, even after all he'd been through. She liked that about him though. It gave her hope that there was still good in the universe. It gave her hope that her family wasn't as broken as she was.

She just wished that Peter wasn't _too nice _sometimes.

And as she watched the news with Pepper and Morgan that day, seeing Peter's grinning face smacked right on the screen of that thing Morgan called the 'tee-vee', Nebula knew that if anything happened to her baby brother, she would find a way to bring back that bastard Quentin Beck, and killed him herself for at least _four times_.

She barely remembered she had Morgan sitting on her lap before she quickly passed her onto Pepper's arms as she pulled herself onto her feet. The Luphomoid had only walked a few steps when the watch-like device attached to her new arm glowed, and then a hologram of Harley's face popped into view. Behind him, Nebula could see the market that he'd just left, and although she kept it to herself, she really wished that Harley had picked another day to buy Pepper's groceries.

"Nebs? Can you hear me?" the blond said in lieu of greeting.

"Yes, Harley," Nebula answered as she prepared her weapons, their familiar weight in her hands gave her a sense of comfort that she'd never felt before during her time with Thanos. "I assume you've seen the news? And are heading home, yes?"

"Of course," Harley spat, his jaw clenched. "I think the whole fucking universe has seen the news _and _is after Peter by now." There were a couple beeps coming from Harley's side before the image the hologram was showing changed into the speedometer of Harley's bike, and the sound of wind rustling was blared loudly. "Come and get me, sis. I'll connect you to my tracker. And the pass-code to the jet is Morgan's birthday."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"No, I don't think – WAIT! Yes, there is! There's a silver suitcase in my room, under my bed. You'll know it when you see it."

"Consider it done. See you in five minutes, brother."

"See you, sis."

The hologram disappeared and Nebula quickly made her way into Harley's room. In the past two months since she took permanent residence with her family, she'd only been into either Morgan's room or Peter's room. No one was allowed in Harley's room, not even Pepper. She would never admit it out loud, unless Morgan's life was in danger, but she was actually incredibly curious as to what the blond was hiding in his room. According to Peter, Harley had been keeping whatever he did in his room a secret for the past eight months. No amount of pouting and stomping from Morgan could even break his resolve, when usually just a tiny quiver of Morgan's bottom lip could send the blond running for whatever she wanted him to do. She was expecting for a great many things when she opened Harley's room, starting from the most trivial thing that spelled teenage shenanigans, to something a bit extreme like _dead bodies._ But Harley's room was pretty much like Peter's, even if it was a lot messier and cramped with all kinds of things.

Well, that was until Nebula looked down under Harley's bed and found the suitcase.

Right at that moment, even without opening the suitcase, she knew instantly what was in it.

"Harley Keener, you little shit," Nebula said under her breath, the slight twitch of her lip was slowly turning into a full-blown grin as she remembered it was Tony's favourite way to describe the blond.

Holding the case tightly, Nebula quickly went to the garage where the infamous Stark Jet was. She flashed Pepper a reassuring smile and she ruffled Morgan's hair affectionately as she entered the jet, hoping that both of them would understand that Nebula would do everything in her power to bring back Peter. Seeing the look in Pepper's eyes when she returned the smile, Nebula knew that at least the blonde CEO understood. She watched mother and daughter waved at her as the jet took off, the panel above them rolled back to give her an access out of the garage. She managed to give them a quick wave before she punched in Harley's coordinates, and the jet practically tore through the sky to its destination. In only three minutes, she could see the familiar shape of her brother riding his Stark Bike that he had built himself. She flew ahead of him before she slowly lowered the jet and opened the hatch at the back. Nebula hadn't really steadied the jet, and the hatch hadn't even lowered itself completely, when Harley floored in the gas of his bike and boarded the jet. his bike practically flying to be able to reach the jet and land safely. The sudden added weight caused the plane to jerk a bit, and the Luphomoid yelled out a string of profanities at the blond as she tried to stabilise the jet to stop it from crashing. A scowl took over her face when she heard the cackle coming from Harley, who had secured its bike on its corner so it wouldn't roll around the jet, and was punching a couple buttons to close the hatch before he came to take the seat beside her.

"That was fun," Harley said, still chuckling even as he buckled up. "We should do that again someti—_OW! _STOP HITTING ME!"

Nebula had reached across to aim a few punches at the blond. She only stopped once she got a particular nasty hit on his shoulder, eliciting a pained yelp from him. With a satisfied smirk, she returned her attention back to flying the jet. "You ever do that again, it'll be so much more painful next time."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that," Harley replied rolling his eyes as he rubbed his shoulder, muttering something under his breath that sounded incredibly like 'violent bitch'. Nebula felt strangely proud of the insult, and she made sure Harley knew it by flashing him a grin, to which he replied by sticking his tongue out immaturely before he spoke again. "Come on, sis. This jet needs to fly faster because we need to make a few stops before we go get Peter."

"A few stops? Why?"

"Backup, of course. I'm sure some of our Avengers friends won't object to helping us save the baby in their group."

* * *

This was bad. _Really_ bad. Like, even worse than stranded-in-a-prison-in-Netherlands-with-multiple-injuries kind of bad. What was even worse? At least in Netherlands, he only had to worry about himself. Now though, he had someone else to worry about.

As much as he hated to say it out loud, Peter had to admit that his _brother _was right.

The world really was a horrible place sometimes.

_"That's him! That's Spiderman!" _someone in the crowd said, pointing at him. It didn't take long before all eyes were set on him, and the screen all around them was showing his figure perching on top of the traffic light.

"Get him!" another person said. "He has to pay for what he's done!"

"Uh, guys?" Peter said, practically tiptoeing on the traffic light to avoid getting pulled down by the reaching hands of the angry mob. "Can we uh, talk about this? I swear, I can explain. Just...just listen to me for a sec. _Please._"

"Shove off, you imbecile!" MJ snapped as she pushed herself through the crowd to get to Peter. "Leave him alone!" But she lost the bite she usually had in her tone, and it cued Peter in how scared the girl was.

"I can't believe I've allowed my son to look up to this _murderer!"_ someone said.

"That's a lie! He didn't do any of those things!" MJ said. "Shut your mouth lest you make yourself seem even more idiotic than you already are."

"Who _are _you?" one of them said, turning their attention to MJ, much to Peter's dismay. "Why are you defending him?"

"Oh no, Michelle…" Peter breathed, already knowing what was going to happen.

"I'm defending him because unlike you and everyone else here, I _was _there in London! I know what happened. I helped Spiderman _fought _Beck!"

"MJ, stop—"

"She's an accomplish! She helped Spiderman killed Mysterio!"

Peter always loved hearing MJ talked, but this definitely wasn't the time for it.

"_What? _No! Are you daft? No, don't answer. You definitely are. I mean, I just told you that—AAAHH, PUT ME DOWN! _PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW, PARKER!_"

"Sorry, MJ. I'm afraid I can't do that," Peter said, carefully alternating the girl in his arms every time he changed hands to shoot his Web. "We have to get as far away as possible from the mob, or else they're going to kill us both."

"F-fine," MJ gritted her teeth, wrapping her limbs tightly around Peter as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "But do we – _hold me! Hold me! Hold me! – _do we have to go so fast?"

Peter didn't even have the chance to answer her when his Spider-sense alerted him of the upcoming barrage of bullets that were coming. Below them, a hoard of police cars were racing as fast they could to keep up with him, shooting everything they could at him despite the fact that Peter had a civilian in his arms. Cursing under his breath, he took a sharp turn to shake the police off his trail, trying his best to ignore the ear-splitting scream MJ let out. Unfortunately for them, the tactic only bought them a couple minutes before a new batch of the police had come again, this time they had bigger guns with them. It was more difficult to dodge the bullets now because they were coming at him more insistently. It was even worse with MJ wrapped around him, wriggling and screaming. True enough, it wasn't long before he got nicked on the shoulder, much too close to where MJ's head was. It wasn't all that painful to him, but it was enough to distract him from shooting his Web to the nearest building. So, for the next few seconds until Peter could snap back into focus, they went plummeting to the ground. The young hero was barely quick enough to shoot his Web to slow down their descent, and it resulted in a rather harsh landing that twisted his ankle. He was grateful that MJ instantly jumped off him the moment they were on the ground, because the police had surrounded them already and he needed both hands to fight them.

There was nowhere for MJ to hide, however, and Peter was left with no choice but to use his own body to shield the girl from stray bullets. He tried to tell the police to stop just long enough so MJ could get out of harm's way, but they wouldn't listen to him. It was as if they'd viewed her as someone as dangerous as he was - which wasn't really far from the truth, considering her intelligence. Things went sour really fast when he Sensed the next bullets coming his way would have hit MJ if he avoided them. He was effectively trapped between risking his own life to protect MJ _or _let her got hit instead. It was obvious to him which option he was taking though, even as he felt the two bullets coming right toward his face. Closing his eyes, Peter shifted to the side to better cover MJ from the bullets, and waited for the end to come. He felt a drop of tear rolled down his eyes as he exhaled brokenly, his Spider-sense vaguely Sensing a rush of air above him. But he ignored it because frankly, his Senses were overwhelmed with his emotions. It wasn't dying that scared him. It was the thought that he'd die a scorned man, without having the chance to say goodbye to all those he loved.

But at least he was going to see his parents again. And Uncle Ben. And Mr Stark.

_CLANG! CLANG!_

"The next idiot who shoots _my _little brother will have my hand down his throat before I rip his cowardly spine out his mouth."

Peter snapped his eyes opened, and was gawking from underneath his mask at the sight of the two bullets that landed in the metal palm in front of his face. His eyes travelled to the side to the owner of the palm in a bit of trepidation, knowing fully who was the owner of the metallic _blue _palm that had saved his life. Sure enough, his eyes was met with the sight of an incredibly furious Nebula, whose black eyes were narrowed in a challenging manner. Her whole body was tense as she took the stand of someone who was just an inch away from attacking, and in her other hand she was gripping one of her swords tightly. The sight made Peter swallowed heavily. Playing family with the Luphomoid for the past two months made him forgot how _dangerous _she actually was. It was only then, as he watched her throwing a threatening look at the crowd in front of her, that Peter remembered the raging murderess who tried to flatten Thanos with a plane.

"Stand down, miss!" one of the cops yelled. "Do not interfere! Throw your weapons to the ground or else we'll fire at you."

"Is that so?" Nebula drawled out, her tone sent chills down Peter's spine that caused his Spider-sense to blare out warnings in his head. It was clear to Peter that the next stupid cop that opened his mouth would lose his life faster than he could blink.

He was just about to tell Nebula to calm down a bit, when from the corner of his eyes he caught a blur of blue and gold, and then…

"Dammit, Nebs; you just HAD to use that new arm," a new voice said. "Now I'll have to build you a brand new one all over again. Ungrateful wench."

"Is that—"

MJ's words were drowned by the sudden loud cheering from practically _everyone _around them.

_"It's Iron Man!"_

_"Oh my God, it's him!"_

_"He's back! Stark's back!"_

_"Tony! Tony! Tony!"_

The blue-gold head shook in exasperation as he spoke again, turning his head slightly toward Peter. "Idiots. All of them. Can't they see that I'm not him? I mean, I'm taller _and _prettier than Tony."

Of course, Peter knew it wasn't Tony. He knew it better than _anyone_.

But that didn't mean he didn't feel the personification of his utter shock punching him in his gut before twisting his insides painfully with his crippling anguish.

_"Harley…"_ Peter breathed out, feeling like something was gripping his heart in a crushing grip. It was even worse when the young man in question turned around fully to face Peter, tilting his head in a way that was _just _an eerie resemblance of their late mentor.

"Hiya, Pete," Harley said softly, sounding both apologetic and understanding.

And that was the moment that Peter _knew._

_(For the next Tony Stark, I trust you.)_

"You think you can take care of them, brother?" Nebula said, forcing Peter back to focus on matters at hand. She had put her sword away and was giving her hand out to MJ.

"I'll be fine, sis," Harley said, and Peter could almost hear the grin in his voice. "You take the love birds home."

"Wait, hold on," the brunet said, only now realising what his siblings were saying. "I'm _not _leaving. Harls, Nebby, this is _my _fight. I can—"

"No arguing, lil bro. You go with big sis till I get everything under control."

"Harley, no. I can help– _hands off, Nebula!_"

"You sure you'll be all right?" Nebula asked Harley one more time. Her hold around Peter's hand wasn't loosening, and he had half a mind to twist it just a _little _bit to warn her. He changed his mind when he saw the way MJ clung onto the Luphomoid though, fear written clearly on her face.

"Told you, I'll be fine. Besides, we have backup, remember?"

Peter frowned. "_Backup? _What do you mean—"

"We're not late, are we, kid?"

"_Rhodey, dude! _Nah, you're right on time, man._"_

Peter's eyes widened in epic proportions as he watched Rhodes landed right beside Harley in all his War Machine glory. Then, from the jet that he'd just noticed had been hovering the whole time, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson jumped down from it, followed by a floating Wanda Maximoff. It was only awhile later when he heard the familiar sound of Fury's car approaching, and it stopped much too close to the cop that tried to scare Nebula away. Then, Fury himself and Maria Hill got out of the car, the former looked irritated while the latter had a bored look on her face.

"We'll deal with these idiots, Parker," Fury said without looking at him. "You better leave now with your girlfriend and Miss Sunshine there."

"Ah, I really wouldn't call Nebula that if I were you, Nick," Rhodes mumbled, sharing a knowing look with Harley even with their masks on.

Nebula, if she'd heard the whole thing, was wise enough to ignore it and was focusing on Harley instead. "See you back home, brother. Don't be late."

"Sure thing."

Before Peter could see it coming, Wanda had used her powers to send all three of them back on the plane, with MJ held securely in Nebula's arms. And later on, he'd always say it to anyone who would listen, that he definitely _didn't _scream in terror when he was suddenly launched into the air.

* * *

As Tony's widow and CEO, naturally the ownership of SI fell to Pepper Potts-Stark.

Nothing much changed, seeing that Pepper had been taking care of SI for the past decade anyway. But then there was also Morgan, as Tony's _de facto_ heir. Not to mention, in Tony's will, he also included a couple _other _people besides his wife and child regarding the inheritance of SI. It was only fortunate that out of the two other names, the world only found out about one. Therefore, when news broke out that other than Morgan, who would later take over her mother's position, there was also a Harley Keener appointed as the co-owner of Stark Industries, it didn't take people long to start hunting down Nebula's brother. It was a great thing that no one but the Avengers knew the address of the Stark cabin, because Pepper knew that the Luphomoid would have no problem if she were to accidentally…_maim _one of those pesky reporters. But that didn't mean that Harley was really safe. In the end, the lanky blond had resorted to drastic measures, and taken his classes online, just to avoid going out in public. Unless it was to buy groceries, take Morgan out once a week, or visit his sister, Harley had become a hermit who hid in the Stark cabin ever since Tony's death.

He seemed to take it rather well, but Pepper was worried about him anyway.

In a way, he really _was _her first child.

Pepper had always cared for Harley, since the day Tony brought her all the way to Rose Hill to meet the boy he'd been talking about nonstop in the following few months after the whole thing with the Mandarin. The blond had only just turned twelve then, and he had this air of bravado that reminded her strongly of the man she loved. It was plain for her to see why Tony was so fond of Harley, why he went all out to make sure Harley wasn't only whole and hale, but also _happy._ Harley had a smart mouth on him that he used like a shield to protect his gentle and tender heart, pretty much the same way Tony always did his whole life. But that wasn't the reason why she fell in love with the boy. She loved Harley the moment he used his smaller body to shield Tony away from the swarm of reporters who noticed him right when the billionaire was having a sudden panic attack. The blond was barely reaching Tony's shoulder then, so unlike his towering build now, but Pepper remembered clearly how such a small presence managed to scare those reporters away with the effectiveness one would only find in an old timer CEO like Pepper.

They drove Harley home that night once Tony calmed down, and as she watched his small figure making his way to his house, his beaming smile that lit up his blue eyes permanently etched in her mind, Pepper almost had the urge to go after the boy and pull him into her arms, and _never _let go. She knew from Tony how hard Harley's life was, with his runaway father and alcoholic mother, leaving him to take care of his little sister since he was only a toddler. But she couldn't just take the child away from his mother, no matter how much she wanted to do that, no matter how much she believed she could be a _better _mother for him. So, Pepper settled for the next best thing – playing the role of a loving and supporting aunt. She visited him as often as she could, cancelling tons of important meetings just to attend at least Harley's birthdays because she missed his science fair. She made sure that Tony inserted her name every time he sent him gifts, even if she'd her own pile of gifts already on their way to Harley's house. The day Harley was accepted into MIT at the age of fifteen, Pepper practically raced Tony to Rose Hill to congratulate the blond herself. Therefore, when Tony told her to give Eleanor Keener access to Harley's account because the young man had met the same fate as half of the universe, Pepper almost thought that her heart had stopped beating right then and there from despair.

And when Harley came back five years later, Pepper held the boy tightly in her arms, as he too clung onto her, both of them sharing the grief for losing the brilliant man they loved greatly.

Loving Peter went a bit differently for her.

She had just reconciled with Tony after their brief break-up when she met Peter. Tony was in a bad place then, because he'd just been betrayed by Steve – the man whom Tony trusted the most out of the rest of the Avengers, not that he would ever admit it out loud unless it was at the cost of Morgan's life. It broke Pepper's heart to see the lingering sadness that Tony tried to hide whenever they were together, so when Tony asked her to come with him to meet Peter, she readily agreed. They met at the boy's apartment in Queens, where he lived with his aunt. Pepper got along with May Parker almost instantly, the two women found so many things in common between the two of them. The moment Peter introduced himself awkwardly to her though, she knew that she would have another thing in common with May. The boy spoke about a mile a minute about how honoured he was to meet her, and that she was easily one of his role-models – right after his aunt and Tony. Pepper noticed then, the more he talked, the more confident he got, and the more Pepper could see how brilliant the brunet really was. So brilliant, that for a moment, he reminded her of another brilliant boy who had stolen a piece of Tony's heart years prior in Rose Hill.

Just when Tony was at the lowest point of his life.

Unlike Harley though, Peter had a loving family in May Parker. But that didn't make Pepper love him any less. She just didn't have that urge to kidnap him and demand for the rights to legally adopt him. It could be because Peter, no matter how soft and sweet he seemed, was a lot stronger than Tony and Harley combined. Oh, Pepper wasn't saying that those two weren't strong, because they were probably the strongest people she'd ever known. It really wasn't easy to grow up to become good men when you had a difficult childhood. But she knew that May's support and love had managed to safe Peter from living with a heart that was constantly broken, with the kind of self-doubt that he would ever be worthy of love that was a souvenir from irresponsible fathers. Peter had a lot of love in his heart, and it was the reason why Pepper loved him. She knew that he had enough to love to save Tony from himself, and even more to spare for Harley, if they ever got to meet. Pepper had it all planned out, to introduce the two young men Tony valued the most in his life. She had already pictured the three of them wrecking havoc in Tony's lab, while she'd watch with a fond smile on her at their silly antics. It was just too bad that the Decimation happened first.

Pepper Potts might not see Peter as a second son because she respected May Parker too much to take that honour from her, but she loved the boy all the same.

And she would really love to join Nebula to bring back Quentin Back so she could kill him herself for all that he'd done to Peter.

"Mummy, they're back!" Morgan said, pulling Pepper out of her reverie. The CEO blinked her into focus, and found her daughter waving at the arriving jet from the window in the living room.

"Come on, Morgan," Pepper said, beckoning the girl to follow her. "Let's go say hi to Peter's girlfriend."

Morgan grinned and nodded her head, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Okay, Mummy!"

Pepper took the chance to grab the First Aid kit when Morgan had run off to the front door, lest she'd see it and get worried that Peter was seriously injured. It wasn't that Pepper was getting ahead of herself, she just liked to be prepared. By the time she joined her daughter, the jet had properly landed and the engine was just shutting down. Pepper saw the hatch at the back opened, where two figures were slowly making their descent out of the jet. She recognised Peter immediately, leaning heavily onto the tall girl that she knew to be Michelle Jones, the one Peter had a crush on. The CEO's breath faltered a bit when she noticed, even from she was standing, the blood staining Peter's costume. Judging from the way he limped, she could tell that he injured his leg as well, though she really wished it wasn't broken. Nebula came out then, and the murderous look on her face was enough to remind Pepper that the Luphomoid was a force to be reckoned with. Her fiery anger practically radiated off her as she stood by Peter's other side to help him, careful not to further injure the brunet's bleeding shoulder. But when her black eyes landed on Morgan, Pepper noticed how they softened a great deal. She could only imagine how Nebula would react if she'd heard the terrified gasp Morgan let out.

"_Peter! _Are you alright?" Morgan said once Peter was close. Nebula was barely quick enough to stop her from wrapping herself around Peter's injured leg, and lifted the little girl into her arms instead.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," Peter said, flashing her a reassuring smile. "I just have a bit of an ouchie."

"An ouchie, he said," Pepper heard MJ muttered under hear breath. The blonde CEO would have laughed if it wasn't for the serious situation they were in.

"We better get in," Nebula said, her eyes already zeroed in on the First Aid kit in Pepper's hand. "I need to clean his gunshot wound, and fix his leg back into its position."

"_Gunshot wound?"_ Morgan exclaimed, and Pepper hated the way her bottom lip trembled when she looked at Peter's bleeding shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey," Peter quickly said, lifting Morgan into his arms even though Pepper knew it caused him a bit of pain. "Morgan, it's fine. I'll be fine. It's nothing Nebby can't fix. Don't worry, okay?"

"You're not going to leave me like Dad left me, are you?" Morgan sniffled, tears already falling.

Peter's sucked in his breath harshly, and it took him a few seconds to reply. "No, sweetheart. I'm not. I promise. You won't get rid of me that easily, Mogsy."

"Okay," the girl said, her voice heart-breakingly soft.

"Come on, let's all get in," Pepper said, deciding that it was time for her to take control. "Your sister's right, Morgan. We really have to get Peter's wound tended too soon."

Morgan nodded her head and was wriggling herself down onto the floor, when Pepper noticed two figures in the air coming closer. Her eyes were transfixed on the figure flying next to Rhodes' familiar War Machine suit. She felt her jaw dropped as the figure came closer, and there was a burning sensation in her eyes that alerted her of the upcoming tears. She vaguely noticed a car coming down the driveway, a car she knew to be Fury's. When it stopped right next to the jet, from the corner of her eye, she saw Fury and Maria came out of the car, followed by Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff. But again, Pepper had her attention at the two figures that just landed right in front of her. Rhodes' companion was wearing a suit of armour that was _so _achingly familiar to her, even though it was coloured a little differently, that she couldn't help the sob that escaped her. There was an immense pain her heart that nearly brought her to her knees, but it felt nothing compared to the one she felt when she heard Morgan's cry of—

"_Daddy!"_


	4. Starks Protect Their Own (part 2)

**NOTES:** Ugh, I hate this. I really hate it. I have been writing this chapter for almost a year now, and I still don't like it. But I really don't know what to do with it anymore, so yeah. I decided to just post the best version I could come up with. I haven't even edited it yet :( I hope it's not too bad, though. I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, guys.

* * *

It took a week, but in the end, Peter's name was cleared and he was released from all charges.

Peter liked to believe that it was because they'd managed to dig up proof that he was innocent, and that it was all Beck's fault. Nebula, and _everyone _else but Peter, knew better though. The moment the Avengers presented themselves as a unified force to support Peter, added with Pepper and Harley as Stark Industries representatives speaking in Peter's favour, the world immediately changed their mind. Things improved even more when Happy 'accidentally' leaked to the public that Peter was the third person in the trio that Tony had inherited his company to. Added with the help of Peter's girlfriend, who posted all kinds of positive things about Peter on the internet, the world slowly started to believe them. There were even a group of people who petitioned to give Peter some sort of reward for everything he'd done. Nebula figured that the fact everyone was still in awe of the heroes was a good thing after all. She might not approve it, but as long as it kept her family safe and happy, she'd take what she could get.

Unfortunately, trouble seemed to follow her family everywhere.

To be precise, her _brothers._

It was only two days after Peter's name was cleared when a new problem arose. This time, it involved Harley. Which, of course, shouldn't surprise Nebula. The Luphomoid was surprised that it took that long. That didn't mean that she liked it though, when she found Peter _and _Harley in that stupid tee-vee of all places. Nebula was alone in the house with Morgan because Pepper had gone to Stark Tower with Happy to deal with Peter's newest revelation as the successor of Stark Industries. The two sisters were watching Morgan's favourite animated movie when the live news interrupted it, showing a clip of Nebula's brothers and a girl she recognised as Harley's sister being surrounded by hostile-looking people. According to the news reporter, the three of them were just leaving a bar somewhere in Rose Hill, when five men stopped them. Nebula could see in the clip Eleanor was talking to the men, who looked upset for some reason, before one of them pulled out a gun and aimed it at Peter.

_"No!" _Morgan and Nebula cried, the latter quickly covered her sister's face with her hand because the child really didn't deserve to see something so grotesque, even though Nebula knew that Peter would be more than capable to dodge the bullet.

The bullet never hit Peter though. Just like Nebula had done the week before, Harley's hand had blocked the bullet. For a split second, Nebula wondered how in the world could Harley do that without injuring his hand. But then she saw it; saw the Iron Man suit started to cover Harley's form, coming from the watch around his extended wrist. Before the suit's helmet covered Harley's face, Nebula saw the anger that crossed her brother's face. The newsreel didn't catch what Harley was saying, but Nebula could imagine that her brother was yelling out warnings at the mob around them. It seemed to work because the men started to disperse. Harley waited until they were all gone before he got rid off the suit, sending it back into the watch around his hand. He turned around then, checking on Peter and his sister. The younger boy had been using himself as a human-shield to protect Eleanor, even though everyone knew those men were after him. But that was such a Peter Parker thing to do; to care about everyone else's well-being over his own. Nebula noted that it looked like Harley was chastising Peter about it too, and that made her smiled a little. She was just about to tell Morgan that she was going to grab the lunch Pepper left for them, when her eyes caught something on the TV.

There was a movement on the corner of the screen. It was a man, and he had that pesky shoulder-fired missile propped on his shoulder. And it was aimed at Nebula's brothers. The Luphomoid moved automatically. She pressed the Emergency button on her Stark watch, the one that Harley had made for each one of their little family. Nebula saw from the TV that her brothers had only taken a brief glance at their watches before the both of them turned their heads in the direction of the man with the missile. What happened next was almost too fast for anyone to comprehend; Peter quickly threw Eleanor over his shoulder and swung away into safety, at the same time Harley's suit-covered hand shot that missile with his blasters before he flew away to avoid the explosion. In reality, Nebula figured the situation probably wasn't that bad. The explosion wasn't even that big and no one was around to get hurt. But of course, humans were dramatic creatures, and it didn't take long before everything turned to chaos. People started to run around in panic, screaming their heads off like the idiots they all were. It was extremely fortunate that not even a minute later, the familiar Avengers jet came into view.

Wanda was the one who came out from the jet first, and she immediately directed her attention on Peter and Harley and Eleanor. She was fussing over Eleanor and Nebula's brothers, both of whom were now covered in their respective suits, when Clint and Fury came. And the latter looked rightfully pissed off as he assessed the situation. Something caught his attention, and it was only after the report was cut short, that Nebula realised Fury had threatened the reporters to stop recording. She was part grateful part resentful that Fury had intervened. Grateful, because the last thing her brothers needed were more publicity. Resentful, because she would have to wait restlessly at home not knowing anything. Pepper called in not even five minutes later, and Nebula felt rather pleased to hear the woman shared her sentiments about Fury's interference. They finished up the call after Pepper promised Nebula that she'd be home in an hour, and they both agreed that they'd giving their boys a thorough yelling once they were home.

Nebula ignored the fact that their yelling would probably turn into fussing.

When the Avengers jet finally arrived, Pepper had been home for four hours, and it was already dark. Harley and Peter stumbled out from the jet still with their suits on. They had gotten rid off their masks though, so Nebula could easily see the sheepish looks on their faces. Morgan instantly ran toward her brothers, jumping right into Harley's opened arms, who headed off into the house quietly and left a pouting and annoyed Peter to deal with everything. Nebula decided that she would take that chance to fuss over the brunet while Harley wasn't there to tease her about it. Pepper, on the other hand, went straight to Fury, demanding for explanations. Apparently, despite everything they'd done to get Peter's name cleared, there were still people who didn't believe it. Rose Hill had always been too small and too close-minded compared to the rest of the world, and the people there were harder to convince. When they saw Peter tailling after Harley, who had become some sort of a celebrity for them ever since it was revealed that he was one-third of Tony Stark's heir, they decided to take actions under the guise that they only wanted to protect Harley. The fact that Harley had just made a public statement about how he and Peter were practically brothers seemed to escape them. So, they ambushed them, telling Harley to take Eleanor away while they dealt with Peter. Obviously, Harley wouldn't let that happen. He was stubborn as hell, and had a protective streak almost as bad as Tony was.

The men who fired the missile at Nebula's brothers turned out to be one of the last of Beck's men. He killed himself probably the moment he realised his plan had failed, so they couldn't ask him about anything. Fury was incredibly upset about it. But at least the ever resourceful Maria Hill managed to find out where did he get that missile from, and that it was stolen from all of Beck's things that they managed to confiscate throughout the process of clearing Peter's name. Fury didn't say it ouright, but he kind of made a promise to Pepper that he'd do everything he could to make sure that no one else would try to harm Peter again. It was why he was left with chauffer duties to take back Harley and Peter home. Clint and Wanda had volunteered to find and deal with those men who were still after Peter, while Maria went to drop Eleanor back to her adoptive parents' house. Pepper thanked Fury profusely for the help, and even asked him to stay for dinner. The man politely declined, saying that he had lots to do. After he waved off Peter's murmured gratitude, and returned Nebula's quick nod of acknowledgement with his own, he bid them all goodbye and hopped back into the jet, before taking off back to the Avengers headquarters.

Nebula led Peter and Pepper back into the house, biting back a small grin when she heard how Pepper was both yelling and fussing over Peter. The CEO only calmed down after she'd poked and prodded all over Peter's skin to make sure he wasn't hurt. Satisfied with what she'd found, Pepper turned her attention on Morgan and Harley who were cuddling on the couch in the living room. Harley's suit had already gone back into his watch, and he had his sister lying on top of him. Morgan's head was tucked under his chin as she burrowed herself into Harley's chest, and he had one warm wrapped protectively around her. Upon closer inspection, Nebula noticed that the blond was fast asleep, his head slightly bowed down that his face was buried in Morgan's hair. It was the most adorable thing the Luphomoid had ever seen in her life, and judging from the way Pepper and Peter cooed at the sight as they took pictures, they agreed with her. The three of them decided that they'd let Harley slept while they all prepared for dinner. It _had _been a long day for everyone. Even without the attack, Harley was always exhausted after he'd gone to see his sister. Emotionally exhausted, that was. Their relationship was getting better, but Peter had once told Nebula that it didn't look like things would fully recover between them. So, they all left the sleeping blond in the living room with their little princess, already arguing about what they should have for dinner.

Completely believing that it was all over for the day. Obviously, like everything always was, things didn't go like they wanted it to be. For a long time after that day, Nebula couldn't help but to blame herself for what had happened. She should have noticed that something was wrong, that she shouldn't let her guard down. Even though, in the back of her mind, she knew that it wasn't entirely her fault.

After all when you were more machine than a living being, you tended to forget the fact that everyone else was mortal. When you had a super powerful sentient being for a pseudo-father, a literal God for a best friend, and a genetically mutated teenager for a brother, you forgot that normal living beings could get severely injured, and that death was a normal occurence.

That it was _you_, who were the anomaly.

"Mummy?" Nebula heard Morgan said in a small voice as she approached Pepper. Dinner was almost ready by then. Nebula and Peter were setting up the table while Pepper did a quick cleaning of the kitchen.

"Yes, pumpkin?" Pepper responded distractedly. She was washing her hands thoroughly, and only gave her daughter her full attention once she was done drying her hands.

"I think Harley's sick," the girl said, which instantly caught Nebula's and Peter's attention. The girl obviously noticed the looks on her siblings' face, and it made her even more nervous.

"Hey, it's okay," Peter quickly said, lowering himself to get to the girl's position. "Nebula and I were just caught off guard a little. Now, tell me, what do you mean Harley's sick?"

"He won't wake up," Morgan whispered. She was now frantically toying with the hem of her shirt as she avoided to look at anyone, a telltale sign that she was about to cry. "I woke up because I could smell dinner's ready, then I tried to wake Harley too. B-But he won't wake up. He didn't even move when I tickled him."

The girl then lifted her right hand up to wipe her tears, but that was when Nebula noticed something. To be precise, the splatter of _red _that covered the length of Morgan's arm.

The Luphomoid felt she had never moved so fast in her life as she rushed back to the living room.

* * *

_("Harley? Harley. Harley, wake up. Come on, you idiot. Wake up.")_

_("Nebs, is he okay— oh no. Pepper, go call Fury. Tell him we're bringing an injured Harley in.")_

_("Mummy, what's wrong? Is Harley's gonna be okay?")_

_("Harley will be fine, Morgan. Don't worry, he's strong— yes, hello? Fury, we need help.")_

_("Peter, you take care of him. I'll go start the jet now.")_

_("Yes, of course. I got him. Just go.")_

_("Harley, please don't die. Please don't go. Don't leave us like Daddy did.")_

** _Time to wake up, kid._ **

** _"Tony?"_ **

Harley's head was pounding, and despite the fact that his heart was beating madly in his chest, he felt rather sluggish. There was so much noise all around him, had it not been for the fact that he felt like _dying, _he would be tempted to snap at them to shut their ungodly mouths. People _really _should learn not to bother someone who had a piece of shrapnel punctured far too closely to their lungs. Harley realised belatedly that there was someone running their fingers through his hair, and he unconsiously hummed in contempt at the touch. In an instance, all the noises died down, and he figured that everyone finally realised he'd woken up. Someone whispered his name softly, and he knew that he had to wake up. So, taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes. What usually was such a simple task to do suddenly felt ridiculously difficult. It felt like his eyelids were glued shut, and it took great effort for him to finally be able to pry them open.

At first, all Harley saw were blurry figures as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights in the room. Judging from the smell of antiseptics in their air, it was clear to him that he wasn't back at the cabin. After a few seconds, he found that his suspicion was correct. Blinking his eyes a few times to focus them, he could slowly make out who were in the room with him. Standing by the foot of his bed, with a clipboard in her hand, was someone Harley recognised as Dr Cho. She was completely engrossed on whatever it was written on the board, humming gently every once in a while. On his left was Peter and Nebula. The former was looking at him in worry with his Bambi eyes while the latter was looking at him with an unreadable look in her eyes. On his right was a puffy-eyed Pepper with a half-asleep Morgan sitting on her lap. Harley noticed that it was his sister's hand who had been playing with his hair. Slowly, he reached up to poke her cheek, and was pleased to find that it woke her up.

"Harley!" the little girl exclaimed with a big smile on her cute face. It broke Harley's heart when he saw the tracks of tears on her face.

"Hey, princess," Harley said, giving her a smile of his own. He opened his arm a little and beckoned for her to lay down beside him. "Come up here and give me a hug."

Morgan gave her mother a questioning glance, to which Pepper replied with a curt nod and a small smile. Without further ado, the girl jumped onto the bed to hug Harley. It was extremely fortunate that Harley's wound was on the other side of his body, safely out of reach from Morgan's bony knees. The rest of his family seemed to share his thoughts, because he saw the way they flinched when Morgan practically tackled him into a hug. Well, Nebula didn't exactly flinch. She didn't even react, actually. She merely stared at Harley long and hard, enough to make him uncomfortable because he _knew _what was on her mind. In an act of pure childishness, he focused his attention on his sister and was half tuning out on Dr Cho's explanation regarding the extend of his injury. It wasn't like he needed to hear it anyway. He was there. He felt it when the scrap of metal from the exploded missile landed between his ribs. _And it hurt like a bitch._

"…gonna keep you here for a week, okay, Harls?" the good doctor said, catching Harley's attention. "You lost a lot of blood and I'll feel a lot better if I can keep a close eye on you."

"Whatever you say, doc," Harley said. He started to shrug but immediately stopped when the pain from his wound hurt too much. "It's not like you're going to let me go if I insist on leaving, right?"

"Don't even think about it," Peter snarled, sounding uncharacteristically angry. He was clenching his jaw tightly as he furiously wiped his tears away. "Unless you're going to the toilet, Harls, you're not _fucking leaving_ this bed, alright? I'll web you onto it if I have to."

Harley knew he shouldn't have done it. He knew that Peter was just worried about him, that he just meant well. But Harley always hated it when people treated him like a child. He always hated being told what to do, as if he didn't know what was best for him. Pepper once told him that it might come from the fact that he'd practically raised himself _and _his sister for years, and that let to his aversion to being ordered around when he'd been forced to grow up and become an adult since he was a child. The CEO said that it was pretty similar to how Tony acted against everyone, and she figured the same applied to Harley. That it was the reason why he couldn't deal with people telling him what to do, even if it was for his own good. His first reaction was always to fight back. So, against his better judgement, Harley did the last thing he should have done.

He picked a fight with Peter.

"Remind me again," he started slowly. "How _terribly_ injured you were when Happy came to you in Netherlands? And what did you do just a day later?"

The brunet looked caught off guard for a second, but Peter was every bit as stubborn as Harley was. Straightening in his seat with a scowl on his face, Peter said, "That was different, and you know it."

"How was that different?" Harley retorted. "You were hit a by a _fucking train, for fuck's sake!_ Then you went off to fight Beck and his many robots. All the way in fucking _London_, where neither Nebula nor I could help you."

"It's different because I was fixing _my_ mistake!" Peter snapped back in return, his voice getting louder. "I made a mistake by trusting Beck, and I knew I had to take care of it."

"Alright, you two," Pepper interrupted as she pulled Morgan back into her arms. "That's enough."

But neither boys were quite done yet.

"You shouldn't be trusting that asshole in the first place!" Harley pointed out. "What about me? What about Nebula? Hell, you didn't even ask us for help. Fuck it, Parker; I thought we're _family!_"

"Well, I was _wrong!" _Peter yelled. "Okay? There. I said it. You happy? I know I should have trusted you and Nebula over Beck. _I know that. _But, you don't understand, Harls."

"What don't I understand? That you trusted some charismatic asshole over your own family? That you're a fucking _idiot_?"

"I DON'T WANT YOU TO _DIE_, YOU BASTARD!"

"YEAH? I ALMOST DID ANYWAY, DIDN'T I?'

"_ENOUGH,_" Pepper shouted, getting off her seat so abruptly, that she accidentally kicked it away. Her face was red and her blue eyes flashed in anger. She looked like she was about to chew them out, and it was obvious that the only reason she hadn't was because Morgan was there. She took one look at her daughter, who was silently crying as she buried her face in her mother's neck, and just like that her anger dissipated. But she kept a hard glare when she spoke again to Harley and Peter. "Morgan and I are staying at the Stark Tower. And you, Peter, are going to May's. Nebula will be staying here with Harley."

"I don't need babysitters," Harley grumbled. "Nebula can—"

"I don't want to hear it, Harley, _okay_," Pepper cut him off. "You lost the right to make an opinion until you stop acting like a jerk. But, if you must know, Nebula's staying to make sure you don't do anything stupid like running away."

"Pepper, wait—"

"We're leaving. Come on, kids."

"Pepper—"

And she left, with Morgan propped on her hip and Peter dutifully following behind her.

It didn't take long before Harley felt the overwhelming guilt settling in. Heaving deeply, he covered his face with his arm, muttering some sort of acknowledgement when Dr Cho excused herself. Harley knew he'd made a mistake. Big time. He shouldn't have snapped at Peter, especially not in front of Pepper. The last thing he wanted was to upset Pepper after everything she'd done for him, but because he was a colossal idiot, that was _exactly _what he'd done. Rhodes had warned him time and time again that Pepper hated it to see people fighting. After the years long feud Tony had with Steve, she had gotten a little traumatic about the smallest kind of argument she had to witness. Harley was already planning all the ways he could apologise to Pepper, when he felt his bed dipped. Lowering his hand a little bit from his face, he found Nebula was sitting at the foot of his bed. He'd forgotten that the Luphomoid was still in the room with him.

"If you're going to yell at me too for picking a fight with Peter, feel free to do that, Nebs," Harley said flatly. "I know I've made a mistake, and I'm mature enough to own it."

"Well, you really were…what was that word that Rhodes always uses? _An asshole, _yes, that's it. You were an asshole, brother," Nebula said, her tone just as flat.

"_I knooow_," Harley groaned out, feeling like a chastised boy all over again. "But Peter started it! Don't you think it's rather hypocritical of him? It was only a week ago when Beck nearly killed him, remember? And we wouldn't have known until it was too late, if it weren't for his super-healing. He was all the way in _fucking Netherlands, Nebs!_"

"Stop it," Nebula snapped then, the glare she aimed at him effectively shut him up. "We both know that you snapped at Peter because you hate it when people tell you what you to do. So, this is not about Peter being hypocritical for babying you. It's because of you. And you better realise that."

"But—"

"It felt like we were losing Tony all over again," the Luphomoid said coolly. "You were unconscious, lying there bleeding, _after _you'd just saved Peter. At least you have decency to take off your suit, or else everyone would have been hysterical."

Nebula's words felt like a slap to his face. It was as if she was reprimanding him for _acting _like Tony. For trying to take his place. Harley was saying the absolute truth when he said that that was the last thing he wanted. He knew what the superhero business did Tony. He'd seen with his own eyes, over a decade ago when Tony barged into his garage, fighting back his PTSD. That wasn't the kind of life Harley wanted. Tony taught him a lot of things, and the most important lesson he'd taught Harley was that living a normal, _happy_ life the greatest miracle anyone could get. But he felt like he _owed _it to Tony, to the man who'd become the father figure in his life. Tony left him the blue print to his own Iron Man suit, and Harley took it as a sign that it would be _his _turn. Tony trusted him, and Harley would rather he jump off the Stark Tower than disappoint the man.

"I never wanted to be Tony," Harley said in a small voice. "That was never my intentions, Nebs. I didn't want to replace him, because there's only _one _Tony Stark, and I'm not him. I will _never _be him."

"I know. We all know that," Nebula replied, her tone uncharacteristically gentle. "But the fact is, brother, you do remind all of us of him strongly. You _are _his son in anything but blood."

Harley sighed, knowing that his sister was right. Even before the Decimation, Rhodes and Pepper had remarked many times that Harley was like Tony's long lost child. Hell, Happy had once joked that he wouldn't be surprised if Harley turned out to be related to Tony after all. At the time, Harley was _so proud _of it. Tony Stark was everyone's role model, and for him, it was even personal. Like Harley had said all those years ago, they _were _connected. He loved listening to people joking about how he alike him and Tony were. But that didn't mean he wanted to _be _Tony.

"You know," Nebula started slowly, bringing Harley's attention back on her. "Peter said something really interesting while you were out cold. He told me about the Parker Curse."

Harley frowned. "What the hell is that?"

"He said that everyone he cares about _always _leaves him in the end, one way or another. It's the price he has to make for his superpowers."

_What the hell._

"But that's bullshit!" Harley exclaimed. "It's not his fault that his parents and his uncle and Tony died. That just means he has a rotten luck."

"For him, it's a curse," Nebula countered. "And he thought _you _were going to die too, Harley. You were lying there on our couch, bleeding your guts out, after you tried to save his life—_no, shut up, I'm not done talking. _You nearly died, brother. Get it into your thick skull. And that didn't only affect Peter. Pepper and Morgan were near traumatised too. They had just lost Tony about a year ago. They thought they were going to lose you too."

"But, Nebs—"

"We're _family, _remember? I may not know much about it, but I undestand that it means we always try our best to come home to each other. Please remember that the next time we're attacked."

_("Time to wake up, kid.")_

"Right," Harley agreed in a small voice. "No more reckless, heroic acts. Got it."

Nebula stared at him then for almost a full minute, making him felt restless. In the year they lived together, Harley thought that he was getting good at reading his sister. But this time, he got nothing. She was as unreadable as the first time they met. Harley couldn't help but to think that this was because Nebula was still upset with him. He deserved it, he supposed. Just when he felt like he couldn't take her staring anymore, Nebula turned her attention at the tray of food left by his nightstand, and brought it onto Harley's lap.

"Eat," she said curtly. "You need all your strength to grovel for Peter's _and _Pepper's forgiveness."

Harley knew better than to refuse Nebula's commands.

* * *

Morgan might be only be fix years old, but that didn't mean she knew nothing.

She didn't know everything, but she knew _enough._

She knew that her father was a hero, and that he'd gone to Heaven with her Auntie Nat after they'd saved the universe. She didn't know exactly how big the universe was, but she could tell that it was probably the size of three thousand worlds. Morgan also knew that her brothers Harley and Peter weren't _really_ her brothers. But her Mummy always told her that they _were _her brothers, even if they weren't Mummy's actual sons. The same applied to her sister Nebula. The four of them were Stark children, that was what Mummy and Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy always said. They were siblings, and they would always be there for one another.

Even though Morgan didn't know everything, she knew that her brother Peter was really sad because of the fight he had with Harley. She'd seen her brothers fought a few times before, but it was never like this. They never said bad words before. Most of the time, they fought about what they wanted for dinner, or whose turn was it to wash dishes or take the trash out. She didn't really understand what they were fighting about this tims, but she could tell that it was because Peter worried about Harley. And he wasn't the only one. Mummy was worried too, and even Nebula as well. When Morgan told them that Harley wasn't waking up, she could see that _everyone _worried about her big brother. Harley was always so strong, like Daddy was. He was always calm, always knew what to do. So, when Harley wouldn't wake up after he'd come home from Rose Hill with Peter, even after Peter shook him hard to wake him up, it scared everyone.

Morgan was almost convinced that Harley was leaving her too, like her Daddy did.

But then she remembered that Harley made her a promise that day during her Daddy's few-nuh-ral. After Mummy introduced the two of them, Harley promised her that he would always be there for her. That he would _never _leave her unless she wanted him to. And Morgan had just lost her Daddy and Auntie Nat, so of course she didn't want to lose her new brother. Harley kept the promise so far. He'd never left her for too long, even going as far as taking his classes at the cabin through his laptop. Both he and Peter, never left Morgan. Then Nebula came along, and they became a proper family for real.

Morgan, Mummy, Harley, Peter and Nebula.

She loved her family, and even if she was only five, she knew she would do anything for them.

And as a start, she would be the one to make Harley and Peter stop fighting.

_"_Come _on, _Peter!" Morgan whined, dragging her big brother into the med-bay at the Avengers compound. "I wanna see Harley! He must be lonely without us the whole day."

"He had Nebula," Peter grumbled, although he allowed Morgan to pull him by his hand.

"Well, it's more fun even if _all _of us are together," Morgan insisted, pouting. She knew Peter couldn't say no to her, not when she pouted at him. Judging from the way he grinned even as he rolled his eyes, Morgan knew she was right.

"Alright, sweetheart. Let's get in," Peter said, pushing the door to the med-bay.

Harley was reading a book when Morgan and Peter came in. He immediately put the book away, a huge smile on his face when he greeted Morgan. The lttle girl quickly made her way to her brother, thanking Nebula when she lifted Morgan onto the bed. "How are you feeling, Harls?" Morgan said, snuggling against her brother. Peter might be the one who gave the best hugs, but Harley was the comfiest snuggler.

"I'm feeling waaay better now that you're here, princess," Harley said, giving a kiss into her hair.

"Good," Morgan said, nodding her head. "That means you're feeling good enough to listen to uh-poh-luh-gise to Peter, right? Because Peter wants to uh-poh-luh-gise too. Mummy said that you two should uh-poh-luh-gise."

Harley raised an eyebrow at Peter, who scowled at him. "Is that so, Parker?" the blond asked, a small grin on his face.

"_Harley,"_ Nebula quickly said in a voice that sounded a lot like Mummy's when she was angry. It made Morgan's oldest brother sighed.

"Fine…" Harley said. He ran a hand through his hair befor he continued. "Well, Peter, I'm sorry for being a jerk. You didn't deserve to get yelled at for worrying about me. That was uncalled for. Will you forgive me?"

Morgan waited for Peter's answer nervously, watching the way the brunet glared at Harley, who was looking at Peter with his big blue eyes. It felt like hours had passed before Peter let out a huge sigh and gave Harley a curt nod. "Alright. I forgive you," Peter said.

"Great!" Morgan exclaimed before Harley could give a reply. Giving Peter a smile, she said, "Now, it's your turn Peter. Say sorry to Harley."

It was Peter's turn to pout. "Do I really have to, Mogsy? He was the one who yelled at me, remember."

"I think it's only fair," Nebula said helpfully, sending a wink at Morgan. "You _did _start it, you know. You threatened Harley first, saying that you would web him to this bed if he tried to leave."

"Yeah. That wasn't nice, Petey," Morgan said, glaring at Peter in the way she hoped was as scary as Mummy always did.

"_Ugh. _Okay, okay! Enough of that. I know when I'm beat," Peter said, waving his hand in defeat. He turned to Harley then, who looked like he was biting back a grin. "Well, _Keener_, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for threatening you, even though it was for your own good. I shouldn't have done that. Will you forgive me, you jerk?"

"Hm, you forgot one thing," Harley said, a sneaky smile on his face. It made Peter scowled harder.

"What?" the brunet spat out.

"You forgot to admit that you were a hypocrite."

"What's a hypocri—"

"_Fine,"_ Peter gritted out, cutting off Morgan mid-sentence. "I'm sorry for being a hypocrite. There. I said. Happy?"

Harley's grin was really big when he chuckled and said, "Immensely."

Peter blew raspberry at Harley's reply, to which the blond replied by sticking his tongue out. For the rest of the visit, both boys were still a little tense toward one another. But it was clear that they'd truly forgiven each other, so Morgan knew that things would be alright. After all, they were Stark children. As long as they had one another, they would always be all right.

That was what her Daddy always told Morgan, and she believed him.

_("You know, Maguna; one of these days I'm going to bring back your brothers, and they'll be there for you when I can't. And maybe things get hard once in a while for you guys. Sometimes, you may even feel as if things will be terrible for a long time. But believe me, as long as we all have each other, everything will be alright. Believe me.")_


	5. The Boys' New Friend

**NOTES:** I have to admit, this story is more of a self-indulgent. And a filler chapter. But it's super fun to write it, so whatever :P Originally this was meant as a gift for my sister, an early birthday gift. Also, I have tweaked some facts for both the comics and mythology, but I promise it is all for the sake of the story. Tell me what do you think, okay? I hope you guys like it ;)

* * *

_Mummy! Peter! Harley! Nebby! We have guests!"_

"_Nebby?_ Wow, she got cute nicknames now? Does this mean I can call her Nebs—_OW! _What the hell, Rocket?"

"You'll thank me."

If Nebula was just a little bit normal, she'd find the whole thing at least _mildly _amusing. But she was who she was, and the only thing she felt was gratitude toward Rocket's initiative.

The Luphomoid didn't immediately came out of her room to greet the Guardians, opting to watch them first from afar, half-hiddened behind the door. She wouldn't admit it, but she kind of felt wary of the Guardians, as if they were meeting again for the first time. After all, it had been over a year since she last saw them. A lot could happen in a year, as was proven by the whole Quentin Beck fiasco. She didn't know it yet though, whether she worried over the Guardians having changed so much, or _she _was the one who had changed a lot. Harley and his stupid psycho-whatever talk would probably tell her that she was regressing. Nebula didn't care though. If Peter was allowed to hide and continue his studies at home because he was traumatised, then she demanded to be allowed to regress back into her paranoid-self.

From where she was, Nebula could see that Morgan was the one who opened the door, although Pepper was standing a few feet away from her. The girl's attention immediately latched on Rocket, hugging the fury thief with all the excitement of of a six-year-old. Nebula couldn't help but to grin at the way Rocket fought so hard to maintain his mean, nonchalant attitude with Morgan squeezing the life out of him. Along with Rhodes, the racoon had become some sort of an uncle for the girl, much to the amusement of both Tony and Nebula. He would always sneak interesting but worryingly dangerous machinery for Morgan, which more often than not caused an argument between him and Rhodes, who took the role of the responsible uncle seriously. When Rocket stiffly patted Morgan's head so she would let him go, despite his body language, it was obvious to everyone how fond he was of his _niece._

Morgan dragged Rocket into the cabin by his hand, and he made sure to greet Pepper when he passed her. He didn't seem to remember there was the rest of the Guardians with him, having used to walking in and out of the cabin easily whenever he visited throughout the years. It was only after Quill let out a loud cough that Rocket turned his attention back to his teammates. Although the Guardians did come to Tony's funeral and had met the rest of the family, they were never properly introduced. Obviously, it should have been Nebula's job to introduce the Guardians to her family, but she didn't feel like she was ready to come out yet. So she let Rocket to do the introduction, once again opting to stand hidden in her room as she watched everything unfold.

The first one to step into the cabin was Quill, as the self-proclaimed leader of the group. He politely shook Pepper's hand and told her his name, looking oddly nervous for some reason. Nebula suspected it was because this was the first time he met an actual, functioning adult, and the Luphomoid made a mental note to bully him about it. The second one to greet Pepper was Drax, who took her hand and gave it a kiss in a show of uncharacteristic gentleness. Like Quill, he seemed nervous too, even if he did a better work hiding it. The next one was Mantis, and she bypassed hand-shaking altogether in favour of hugging Pepper. She babbled something about learning human customs and becoming friends, and that explained everything more than enough. When Groot came shyly following Mantis, Pepper looked a little alarmed at first. But then Groot gave her flower, and Pepper softened, an amused smile taking over her features.

Nebula almost forgot about Thor until the Thunderer had crossed the foyer and stepped into the cabin in all his golden glory. Like Mantis, he hugged Pepper instead of shaking her hand hand, except he had known Pepper for much longer than either Nebula or Rocket, so it was understandable. Thor's whole being seemed to radiate all the happiness he felt upon seeing Pepper, who returned the sentiment genuinely. Nebula was just about to decide that she was finally coming out, when someone else came trailing behind Thor.

"Who the hell is that?" Harley asked, surprising Nebula a little bit because she hadn't realised that the blond and Peter had come into her room.

"I don't know," Nebula asked. She narrowed her eyes at the new person, feeling cautious already.

"He kinda reminds me of Loki, to be honest," Peter said. "If Loki was teenager."

Peter was right. The boy beside Thor really did remind Nebula of the Trickster, whom she'd only seen in glimpses during his captivity with Thanos. Torturing prisoners were something that Gamora refused to do and always tried to get Nebula to not do it as well. For some reason, Thanos agreed to her request, and left the torturing business to Ebony Maw and his lackeys. But that didn't mean that Nebula never saw Loki. Even if it was only in passing, she could still remember how he'd looked, how his presence had commanded the room until Thanos broke him. And Nebula could see Loki clearly in the boy who was now standing awkwardly beside Thor. He was tall and lithe in the way Loki was, with pale skin and angular features that resembled the Trickster. The boy's hair was just as dark as Loki's, except it was curly instead of straight. However, the similarities didn't only go as far as their appearances, because Nebula was sure that the way the boy clasped his hands behind his back with his head tilted back as he observed the room with masked interest was an eerie reminiscence of Loki.

"This is Balder," Thor introduced with a big smile on his face, as if answering Harley's question. "He's my brother."

"He's _what_?" Harley and Peter exclaimed in unison, loud enough to attract everyone's attention. It left Nebula with no choice but to join everyone in the room with her brothers in tow. She made sure to slap the back of their heads though, for ruining her plan.

"Hello," Nebula said flatly, giving the Guardians a curt nod even though her eyes were still set on Thor and his 'brother'.

"Nebula!" Thor greeted her, his widening smile made him looked younger. "It's nice seeing you again. And hello to you too, young Parker, young Keener. I hope you've all been doing well."

"We have," Nebula parroted back in return. Without preamble, she nodded at the boy beside the Thunderer. "I didn't know you had another brother."

"Well, he's been living with my friend Sif's family," he explained. "When the Guardians and I went to Vanaheim to visit Sif, her family told me everything. They said that Balder had been living with them as Sif's brother. They would have told me about him sooner if I hadn't been travelling so much since the whole thing with Malekith."

"Why was he sent to live with them?" Harley asked, earning a nudge at his rib from Peter and a scolding glare from Pepper. The blond ignored them, even when Thor's smile dimmed a little.

"Oh. Um. Well, you see—"

"My mother wished for me to be away from the Allfather's influence," Balder answered flatly, cutting of Thor. "She had seen how _great_ my siblings turned out to be because of the Allfather's teachings, and she didn't want that for me. She did not realise, however, that by casting me away I would grow to resent her."

Nebula was rather glad that Harley actually had the decency to look guilty over Balder's explanation.

"Balder," Thor began, his tone sounded tired all of the sudden. "We have discussed this before. Mother only wanted the best for you. I told you about Hela and Loki, didn't I? And even I am not a stellar example myself."

"And what if I had turned out to be the next Loki?" Balder shot back, and Nebula noted the way his dark eyes flashed green for a second, which only emphasised his resemblance with Loki. "If Sif's family never told me who I really was, who could guarantee I wouldn't grow up as resentful as Loki?"

Thor looked like he was about to argue even further, judging from his stiffening body language and the narrowing of his blue eyes. Balder seemed to realise it as well, and it looked like he was prepared to take extreme measures as a response, his raised hand glowing yellow. But the brothers immediately faltered when Nebula made an obvious move toward Pepper, who was the closest toward the brothers, to shield her from possible harm. There was an apologetic look on Thor's face at the same time Balder's expression smoothed into something more pleasant. There was even a small smile on the younger God's face. Peter, bless his heart, took that as an opportunity to break the tension and changed the topic of discussion entirely.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Balder," Peter said, a big smile on his face. "Anyway, I'm starving. Anyone else up for pizza?"

"Oh my _God, _I haven't had pizza in _decades!_" Quill exclaimed loudly, earning a giggle from Morgan because apparently, she found the idiot's childishness amusing. But then again, she was only six.

"That settles it," Pepper said, slipping into her perfect-host persona easily. "We're having pizza. Peter, can you order the usual? And Nebula, you and Harley can take our guests around the house, show them where they'll be staying. I will set the table for us all, and Peter can help me later after he's done ordering."

"Can I help, Mummy?" Morgan asked.

Pepper smiled at her daughter and nodded. "Of course, darling. Come on."

Nebula and Harley waited until their family had gone to do their respective chores before they beckoned their guests to come with them for a tour around the house. Despite the fact that the term 'cabin' insinuated a rather modestly sized accommodation, the Stark cabin was big enough with five guest bedrooms on top of the five main rooms for the permanent occupants of the cabin. After they'd taken their guests around, with Harley doing all the explanations while Nebula merely kept an eye for wandering hands and sticky fingers, they finally showed the guests their rooms. Quill was set to bunk with Drax, much to the former's utmost disappointment, in the guest bedroom closest to the living room. Beside their room was Mantis', which was right across Nebula's. Rocket and Groot were in the only guest bedroom in the basement, across Harley's lab. The blond had asked Nebula to threaten Rocket thoroughly so the little thief would stay away from his lab. Lastly, Thor and Balder would be in the room beside Harley's.

After the Guardians plus Thor and his brother had settled down in their respective rooms, Nebula and Harley led them all into the dining room. It looked like Peter had added two more tables beside the usual dining table. The boy was bustling around the dining room to help Pepper, and Morgan was setting up the utensils on the tables. Nebula and Harley were just about to offer their assistance when Pepper stated that everything was set already, so they all took their seats around the tables. The dinner went relatively smoothly, in Nebula's opinion. It was a little weird, if she had to admit, but in a good way. Pepper was talking with Thor, filling each other on how their lives had been in the past year. Mantis was having a great time entertaining Morgan, who clearly took a shine on Mantis and her bubbly personality. Quill and Rocket were arguing as per usual, with Drax making his typical quips every now and then while Groot watched on them with a small smile. Everything seemed to work out well, and everyone looked happy.

Nebula, however, wasn't expecting her brothers to find themselves getting along with Thor's brother so soon. Harley, who was sitting across Pepper on the other end of the combined tables, was leaning toward where Peter was sitting on his right, listening raptly to the conversation Peter had with Balder. Nebula couldn't help but to watch the interraction closely, finding it interesting how Balder looked like a completely different person with how easily he smiled as he replied to whatever it was Peter had said. When Harley interrupted him with something Nebula supposed was a joke, she could finally see the resemblance he had with Thor through his bright laughter. The Luphomoid could feel herself started to smile at the sight of how well the three of them seemed to get along. She wasn't the only one who had noticed, apparently. She found Thor and Pepper were looking in the same direction as she had when she turned her attention to them.

"Looks like Harley and Balder manage to get along," Pepper said, her lips tugged into a smile of her own. "I was worried that they wouldn't, to be honest."

"I think Peter worked his magic on them," Nebula said, knowing how persuasive Peter could be through his cheerful attitude. "We all know it is impossible to not like him."

"I'm glad that Balder finally has people he feels like he can talk to," Thor said without taking his eyes off his brother. "Sif told me that even though there were others who were around his age, Balder always found it difficult to interact with them. Hopefully, he can be friends with Peter and Harley."

"You do know that your brother's not exactly _their _age, right?" Quill butted in, suddenly joining the conversation, much to Thor's and Nebula's annoyance. "Isn't he like, a thousand years old?"

"He's only three hundred and fifty years old, _Quail,_" Thor drawled out.

"Well, I'm pretty sure no _human _has figured out how to live over a hundred," Quill snapped in return. "Not even Captain America and his buddy are that old."

"Yes, but in Asgardian standard, Balder is only about six years old. He's not much older than little Morgan here."

Everyone within listening distance fell silence. And that meant everyone but the three boys at the other end of the table. They all stared at incredulously at Thor, who was oblivious to everyone's attention on him. In the end, the sudden bout of silence brought the boys' attention on Thor as well. The only one who didn't care was Morgan, who happily chomped on her slice of pizza, although she did take a quick glance at Thor when he mentioned her name.

"What's wrong?" Harley asked, straightening in his seat. He looked a little wary, as if expecting a bad news. For a split second, Nebula could almost see Tony.

"Everything's fine, Harley," Pepper replied, giving the blond a reassuring smile. "Thor here just said that Balder's three hundred years of life equals to almost six years old for Asgardians."

"I am three hundred and fifty," Balder corrected with a faint scowl. "I'm _not_ six. Midgardians life span doesn't apply to us Aesirs and Vanirs."

"Shit, you're not even six years old?" Harley chuckled, a mischievous grin on his face. "You're even _younger_ than Morgan!"

"Say that one more time, Harley, and I will turn you into a toad," Balder said coolly, making everyone tensed in their seats.

Even if Balder was only half as good as Loki was in magic, Nebula doubted she could easily defeat him. He looked extremely calm when he was arguing Thor, and Nebula had seen firsthand how powerful the Thunderer was. Loki, after all, _was _extremely powerful when he wasn't going up against Thanos. Half of his power would still be very dangerous, and that would make _Balder _a huge threat. If Harley took offense to what Balder said and foolishly attempted to attack him, there was no doubt that Balder could easily smite Harley _and_ everyone else in the room. Therefore, she was incredibly relieved when Harley merely laughed and leaned back into his seat, giving Balder a wink as he popped opened his can of Coke.

"I don't have a princess that could save me with a kiss, Balder," Harley said, still grinning. "So, don't worry. I'll shut up. Well, at least for now, I will."

"Harley," Peter sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Can you stop being an annoying _jerk_ for at least an hour? If he punches you, I'm not going to save your butt this time."

"Butt!" Morgan giggled, which further diffused the tension.

"It's fine, Peter," Balder said, his own lips slowly tugged into a grin. He even went as far as throwing a wink at Morgan, who was now outright laughing. "I think Harley and I speak the same language."

"Aw, stop it. You're making me blush."

"You're pushing it now though."

"Oh no, now there's two of them," Nebula drawled, rolling her eyes as she realised what the friendship between Harley and Balder would lead to. It looked like she wasn't the only one who came to the conclusion.

"No, no, no," Peter said, slowly catching up. "You two are _not_ allowed to be friends. I forbid it. I can barely take care of Harley. I can't deal with you too, Balder."

Everyone settled down when the three of them continued their friendly banter, this time with Harley and Balder ganging up against Peter. Taking a quick glance at Thor, Nebula saw the obvious pride in his face for his brother, and she understood that _this _was Thor's second chance at having a proper family. Things might be a little strained between the two brothers, but she could already tell that Balder wasn't as vengeful as his late siblings were. And even though Nebula had never seen Thor interacted with Loki, she had heard from everyone how much those two actually loved one another. It would take some time, but she believed that things would work out between the brothers.

If someone as horrible as Nebula deserved another chance, then surely Thor did too.


End file.
